Neroca ride on Turkovic's heroics to pip Aizawl FC
20 Jan 2018 11:11 PM IST
Aizawl: Neroca FC rode on Nedo Turkovic's late strike as they rallied from a goal down to beat defending champions Aizawl FC 2-1 in a thrilling I-League match here.
In a game with an abundance of chances for both sides, Turkovic headed home the match-winner in the 85th minute after his Neroca team-mate Felix Chidi (65th) had cancelled out Aizwal defender Kareem Omolaja's 39th minute goal.
With Saturday's win at the packed Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, I- League debutants leapfrogged East Bengal in the league table to occupy the second spot with 21 points from 10 matches.
The home side dominated the first half with a flurry of chances but they were to be blamed themselves for not scoring more goals.
Neroca came back strongly in the second session to notch up two goals and continue their nine-match unbeaten streak.
Aizawl's head coach Paulo Menezes made two changes in the playing XI as Lalramhmunmawia and Yugo Kobayashi started in place of suspended Afghan defender Masih Saighani and William Lalnunfela.
The Imphal-based Neroca made no changes from their win against Indian Arrows. Shambu Mistry was in goal and Gourmangi Singh led the defence alongside Varney Kallon, Ngaseoam Tondonba and Ashok Singh.
Aizawl got their first shot at goal in the first minute of the match itself but Andrei's volley was thwarted away by Shambu. The home side came close to scoring again but Andrei's dipping free-kick struck the woodwork.
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